The two Double-headed eagles of Hellenic football were unable to be split after each holding one another to a tense stalemate, allowing Aris to go equal on points with their crosstown rivals.
Enosi and the Thessaloniki giants played out a 1-1 draw at “Agia Sophia” Stadium on Monday morning (AEDT) in the Greek Super League’s eighth round, maintaining the two-point gap separating the clubs.
PAOK opened the scoring in the 15th minute via defender Baba Rahman, who tapped the ball in from a corner set piece.
The lead was short-lived as AEK equalised just ten minutes later through striker Frantzdy Pierrot, who guided the ball underneath goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski’s legs and into the net.
Neither side was able to add to the scoreline after that as the two clubs settled for a point each.
The result allowed Aris to join PAOK on 17 points following their 2-0 home victory against a Kallithea side that played closed to an hour with just ten players on the field.
The match took a turn for the worse for the travellers in the 34th minute when centre half Triantafyllos Pasalidis received his second booking, putting his side at a terrible disadvantage.
Despite that, Kallithea held on fairly strongly up until the 65 minute when a corner header from Aris defender Jakub Brabec proved too powerful to be kept out by goalkeeper Bernabe Barragan, with the ball finding the back of the net in what ultimately was called an own goal (65′).
The “yellow-blacks” then put the game to bed with a late strike from midfielder Manu Garcia (88′), allowing Aris to sneak ahead of PAOK on the ladder due to their superior head-to-head record.
Olympiacos dropped crucial points in a 2-2 draw to Levadiakos at “Georgios Karaiskakis” ground after a spirited comeback from the “blue-greens”.
The Piraeus giants started the contest very strongly as midfielder Chiqunho put them in front just four minutes in before marksman Ayoub El Kaabi doubled it with a penalty strike in the 21st minute.
The visitors got themselves back into the match towards the end of the first period as they earned a penalty of their own, which striker Alen Ozbolt put away (45′).
Levadiakos then completed the turnaround in the 57th minute when winger Giannis Gianniotas found the back of the net with a header, levelling the clash in what proved to be the game’s final goal.
Panathinaikos ensured a 0-1 away triumph in their first match since George Baldock’s passing.
The “Trifylli” went ahead early as winger Tete released a grounded long shot that squeezed into the bottom right corner (6′), a lead they managed to preserve for the rest of the game.
The result was important in more ways than one as it represented the Greens’ first away win in the league this campaign and their first win in three games following a defeat to AEK and draw with Olympiacos.
Above all, Panathinaikos will be most pleased with grabbing the victory in honour of their fallen star, George Baldock.
Panetolikos kept their fine form going as they sealed a 0-2 away triumph over Atromitos on Sunday morning to extend their unbeaten run to six matches.
The Agrinio outfit took the lead in the 14th minute through an own goal by defender Dimitrios Stavropoulos, and they made it two soon after via midfielder Giannis Bouzoukis (37′) in what was the final decisive moment of the fixture.
Panserraikos secured a pivotal 0-1 away win against Volos to escape from the bottom of the ladder.
The Serres club found the match’s lone goal through forward Jefte Betancor in the 63rd minute, who polished off a wonderful attack to help steer his side to an important three points.
Greek Super League Ladder
1-Aris: 17
2-PAOK: 17
3-AEK: 15
4-Olympiacos: 15
5-Panetolikos: 14
6-Panathinaikos: 12
7-OFI: 11
8-Asteras Tripolis: 10
9-Atromitos: 8
10-Panserraikos: 7
11-Volos: 7
12-Lamia: 6
13-Kallithea: 5
14-Levadiakos: 5
